Gary Lee Lancaster (August 14, 1949 – April 24, 2013) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, W.D. Pa.) is a federal trial court that sits in Pittsburgh, Erie, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It is composed of ten judges as authorized by federa ...

Early years

Born in Brownsville,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, Lancaster received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in secondary education from

Slippery Rock State College Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in the Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania area of the United States. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Educa ...

in 1971 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) is the law school of the University of Pittsburgh, a public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and became a charter member of the Association of American ...

in 1974.

Early career

From 1974 to 1978, Lancaster served as Regional Counsel to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission as well as an Assistant District Attorney in

Allegheny County Allegheny County ( ) is a county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, after Philadelphia County. Its county seat and most populous city is Pit ...

. He entered private practice in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania in 1978, where he focused mostly on criminal litigation.

Federal judicial service

United States magistrate judge service

In 1987, Lancaster was selected to serve as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

for the

United States district court service

He was nominated to be a district judge by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

on October 25, 1993, to the seat vacated by

Timothy K. Lewis Timothy Kimbrue Lewis (born November 2, 1954) is a former United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. , he is an attorney at the law firm of Blank Rome, Blank Rome LLP, whe ...

, who had been elevated to a newly created seat on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...

. Lancaster was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on November 20, 1993, and received his commission the following day. While on the bench, Lancaster served on the committee responsible for drafting the Third Circuit's Model Civil Jury Instructions, and was also appointed by Chief Justice

William H. Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney who served as the 16th chief justice of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2005, having previously been an associate justice from 1972 to 1986. ...

to serve on the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial co ...

Committee on Judicial Resources. He was also responsible for overseeing the renovation of the district's historic

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

-era federal courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh. In 2009, Lancaster became the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

to serve as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, succeeding

Donetta Ambrose Donetta Wypiski Ambrose (born November 5, 1945) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Early life and education Ambrose was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Her ...

. During his tenure as Chief Judge, Lancaster was instrumental in the court's involvement in the Patent Pilot Program, a national initiative designed to enhance the expertise of federal judges in patent litigation. As of 2013, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania remains one of the few judicial districts in the country to have Local Patent Rules.

Death

Lancaster died suddenly on April 24, 2013, at his home in Pittsburgh. He was still on the bench and was expected to serve on active status through at least 2014. In announcing his death, the ''

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib", is the second-largest daily newspaper serving the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania. It transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, but rema ...

'' heralded him as a judge known for "being able to handle any case." He was succeeded as Chief Judge by

Sean J. McLaughlin Sean Joseph McLaughlin (born January 4, 1955) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Education and career Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, McLaughlin received an Artium ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Gary L. 1949 births 2013 deaths African-American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton Slippery Rock University alumni University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni People from Brownsville, Pennsylvania Lawyers from Pittsburgh United States magistrate judges 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 20th-century African-American lawyers